INTERACTIVE: Malaysia’s life expectancy recovers from Covid-19

PETALING JAYA: The states of Labuan, Sabah, Selangor and Kelantan have recorded the biggest jump in life expectancy since the movement control order (MCO) ended.

This is part of the overall trend of Malaysia’s life expectancy bouncing back from the Covid-19 pandemic.

And the good news is that it’s expected to keep rising in the next 10 years, say experts.

Life expectancy is the average number of years a person is expected to live at the beginning of a certain age, assuming the mortality rate of that age is the same throughout his or her lifetime.

In 2019, before the pandemic began, a baby born in Malaysia had a life expectancy of 74.8.

In 2022, after the MCO was fully lifted, the life expectancy at birth had shortened by one year to 73.8.

Now, such numbers are back up again, at 75.2, exceeding the pre-pandemic level, based on data from the Statistics Department.

“The increase in life expectancy is due to the lower number of deaths in 2023 and 2024 as compared to 2021 and 2022, which was attributed to excess deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic,” the department said in its Abridged Life Tables report.

Among the states, Labuan showed the biggest improvement in life expectancy at birth, rising by 3.4 years from 74.4 in 2022 to 77.8 this year.

In second place was Sabah, where life expectancy lengthened by two years, followed by Selangor and Kelantan, where each saw a growth of 1.8 years.

Check out these maps to see the rise in life expectancy in each state.

Each state is ranked from one to 16, with one having the biggest jump in life expectancy:

Better lives now

With Covid-19 under control, life expectancy has been given a boost because there are fewer premature deaths.

“During the pandemic or times of armed conflict, premature deaths affect overall life expectancy because of lives being cut short.

“Now, it’s a continuation of better survivorship of the total population,” said demographer Chai Sen Tyng, who is a research officer at the Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing, Universiti Putra Malaysia.

He said Malaysia’s life expectancy also has been improving because of better public health, and a reduction in premature deaths, especially maternal mortality and infant deaths.

“There are also fewer deaths due to high-risk work or jobs.

“Of course, there are also increasing accident deaths, lifestyle diseases and cancers, but the reduction in communicable diseases (like Covid-19) means our deaths are now caused more by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like diabetes.

“We call this an epidemiological transition,” he added.

Long live females

Both male and females in the country have longer life expectancy today, but between the two, women tend to outlive men.

In 2024, a baby girl in Malaysia is expected to live up to 77.8 years, while it’s 73 for a baby boy.

Among Malaysians, the Chinese community had the longest life expectancy at birth compared with other ethnicities.

In 2024, the life expectancy of a Chinese male is 74.5, followed by Malays and other Bumiputras at 72 each and Indians at 68.3.

A similar trend was observed among females in Malaysia, with Chinese females topping the list at 80.2.

Meanwhile, a Malay female’s life expectancy in 2024 is 76.9, followed by other Bumiputras at 76.5 and Indians at 75.6.

On why women tend to live longer than men, UPM’s Chai said this was an interesting trend occurring around the world.

He said such a situation was likely due to behavioural elements and biological factors.

“At birth, the sex ratio of males is slightly higher than females. That means more baby boys are born than baby girls.

“But whether evolutionary or circumstantial, fewer males survive into old age – it could be due to lifestyle or high-risk behaviour, but this is uncertain.

“As such, by age 60, the sex ratio in the population changes whereby in old age, females outnumber males,” he said.

Singapore is No. 1

Among our neighbours in South-East Asia, Malaysia had the fifth longest life expectancy in 2023.

Taking the top spot is Singapore with the general life expectancy for both sexes at 83.

This is followed by Thailand at 76.4, Brunei at 75.3, and Vietnam at 74.6.

Such is based on statistics from the World Population Prospects 2024, as cited in the Statistics Department’s report.

Epidemiologist Datuk Dr Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud said one possible reason why Malaysia’s life expectancy is not doing as well as it should was because our country currently has the highest prevalence of diabetes and obesity in South-East Asia.

“This is causing increasing rates of NCDs like heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, kidney disease and cancers, which will blunt any progress we make in life expectancy.

“We are already seeing many of these NCDs occurring at younger ages, which will cause poorer health for many people.

“We are also not spending enough on preventive and promotive health and on our public healthcare system,” he said.

As life expectancy is the average number of remaining years a person is expected to live, it is different according to each individual’s age.

For example, a 15-year-old boy in 2024 is expected to live another 57.3 years, compared with a 60-year-old man who is expected to live another 17.8 years.

Here’s a look at the estimated life expectancy of people in Malaysia, based on their age: